When you are at a point where you have boxes and boxes of E-waste to dispose of it means you are getting rid of expensive, energy consuming materials from your business.

As part of the Atum IT Green initiative, we take in our clients out of date or obsolete computer/electronic/ hardware materials and recycle it the RIGHT way. We want to give you an easy way to do the ‘green’ thing when you become our customers.

Recently, we took some pictures of the e-waste articles we had accumulated from our clients…

We called in the boys from Asset Recovery & Recycling in Toronto to take the laptops, servers, electronic material and miscellany to their E-waste plant for recycling. E-waste recycling companies like Asset Recovery & Recycling are completely OES (Ontario Electronic Stewardship) approved, and guarantee a 98.5% landfill diversion process.

Virtualization is the future. It is an energy efficient way to store data and cut costs for businesses. It is also going to help to get rid of server rooms, racks of in house servers and make a lot of material into ‘e-waste’. We are virtually eliminating the need to store any data or infrastructure in your office space. So get rid of the old stuff, and embrace virtualization.

We realize that ‘the old stuff’ needs to be properly disposed of and Atum will take responsibility of handling your e-waste so that you can reap the rewards of a totally virtualized solution.

Find out more about VPS and virtualizing your infrastructure – then Go Green and send us all of your space and energy consuming materials!

Just another recycling day at Atum!

Of course now times have changed, and there are different coloured boxes and various types of bags your city/town requires you to use for every type of ‘waste’. Recycling, plastics, papers, organics, yard waste. Heaven forbid you want to dispose of paint cans or toxic material… the dump has a special place for that waste!

These alterations to our disposal methods are meant to improve our environmental footprint, and encourage every citizen to ‘do their part’ for the greener good.

Remember the ‘litterbug’ campaign? It started to really pick up steam in about the mid-60’s, before then people would freely throw garbage out of their car windows… absolutely appalling to think about in recent years! But the changes worked, and the movement grew… the same thing happened with the ‘Recycle, Reduce, Reuse’ campaign.

So we’ve given ‘litterbugs’ the boot (or plenty of dirty looks!), and we’ve educated a new generation on the value of ‘recycle, reduce, reuse’… is e-waste disposal next?

How many computers have you owned in your lifetime? 3, 5, 10? What about all the hardware that has come and gone – printers, fax machines, routers, monitors, cameras, pagers etc. What did you do to dispose of these out of date items once you were finished with them?

It’s time to find out the new rules for getting rid of e-waste. Many cities will provide an ewaste disposal service for residential waste removal. Go to your city/town waste website to inquire about ewaste pickups or recycling drives. If you own a business and have large amounts of bulky equipment taking up space, there are services that will pick up or accept your e-waste and recycle it for you.

If you’re looking to get rid of all your hardware, virtualization is the equivalent to a green IT garbage man. A virtual solution will help to eliminate all unwanted hardware and save all associated maintenance costs. Atum goes one step further by offering an e-waste recycling program – send us your out of date hardware, and we’ll safely recycle it …you don’t need it anyways!

Don’t be an e-waste litterbug; e- recycle, e-reduce and e-reuse!

• You could catch the latest Disney Nature flick, set to hit theatres on the “official” Earth Day, April 22^nd.
• You could pay more attention to where you’re putting that plastic wrapping, and choose the right receptacle.
• You could contribute to the WWF, or adopt a highway.
• You could dust off your bike and start cycling to work, or if that is too ambitious, join a carpool!
• You may even throw a ‘green-themed’ party with mint cupcakes and green tea.

We have come a long way – awareness for the importance of eco-friendly initiatives has grown, and we are genuinely a more green-conscious people than we were in past decades. In my parents’ world, it was not uncommon to see people throw trash out of their moving vehicles without reservation!

Small changes make larger impacts down the road. More than likely, the next generation will scoff at our wasteful usage of plastic bags.

Atum is bursting with pride, and excited to announce that we have been featured in CDN Magazine, in an article listing the 2011 Top 10 Green Solution Providers in the country. Just in time for Earth Day! Our Director of Business Development, John Posan, was interviewed by the publication and gave insight into the services Atum provides that are driving the Green IT bandwagon into the future.

For example, making the switch to Virtual Server Hosting allows companies the opportunity to get rid of their energy-consuming machines taking up space and power in-house. Atum also implements a Recycling Program that allows clients who are making the switch, to physically recycle their hardware in a safe, eco-friendly manner.

We are honored, and will continue to commit to providing top-quality green solutions for our clients…not JUST for Earth Day!  

So, Happy Earth Day/Week/Month – celebrate with us, by making your own commitment to going green both personally (by finally ditching plastic bags!) and professionally (by suggesting company-wide programs).

Tell us what you’re doing, and let us know how we can help!

You may think that recycling more, cutting your plastic bag usage or installing the odd solar panel wouldn’t put much of a dent in the global eco-movement. Unfortunately, this is partially true. By throwing a tin can in the right bin, you aren’t saving the world from our massive ‘footprint’.

In order to really make an impact, a larger contribution needs to be made – something the little guy can’t accomplish by himself. What is needed? Company involvement and buy in. From the small business owner to the gargantuan enterprises, getting on board to make some green changes.

Just this past week, some major companies have been in the news with a renewed focus on contributing to the green shift. Google has been a leader in creating a sustainable environment and putting value in green operations. This week, it was announced that the search engine giant invested $168 million into a solar energy project – upon completion; it will be the largest solar power tower plant in the world!

Social media giant Facebook also announced details for a highly advanced green data centre – and they have a heck of a lot of data to store! It is important for these IT dense environments to make little and extensive adjustments to save on energy consumption. Facebook has been getting a lot of pats on the back since its inception, but this is a huge step in the right direction towards corporate responsibility.

The concept is not entirely new, but when more businesses begin to make strides and do their part – the concept can become a reality. Atum Corporation is proud of our Green IT approach and will continue to help other companies invest in a greener corporate vision.

What are you doing to mobilize the green revolution? Perhaps more importantly, what is your business doing to support the overall shift?

The event will be an evening of speakers and networking incorporating themes of project management, business and the environment.

When:  October 14th, 2010  From 6 to 9 pm.
Where:  Rivoli Hotel, Upstairs.  334 Queen St. W., Toronto, Ontario
For more information: http://greenenterprise.net/events.php?id=6934

All funds will be donated to Green Enterprise Ontario to support its vision of an economically sustainable Ontario. 

The event is meant to server as an educating session and expand participants’ knowledge of how environmental decision making can be added to their businesses and projects. The event will also discuss some of the biggest hurdles project managers are facing in implementing more efficiency to their organizations.

John Posan is excited to share the many benefits of outsourcing IT, specifically virtual private server hosting (VPS) that result in cutting costs and energy use for business owners.

We hope to see you there!